On June 17, 2025, McGuireWoods Consulting senior advisor Jim Dyke was featured on The Community Connection, a podcast highlighting key players in the world of education. In the interview, Dyke spoke about his contributions and career inspirations, as well as where the American education system has been and where it’s going.
The Community Connection, hosted by Eric Worchester and Janine Mayor, spoke to Dyke about his educational and familial background and how that deeply affects the work he does within the realm of education.
Many aspects of Dyke’s upbringing encouraged him to pursue his current career path.
Dyke grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and recalls a time when the county was segregated. He had to take the Greyhound bus across town to the school for Black children.
His mother and grandfather were teachers, and his family emphasized education as a means of upward mobility, social change and resistance.
In his teens, Dyke made the decision to go into law and politics after attending the March on Washington in August of 1963. He remembers being spurred into action after seeing Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
“I wanted to get a legal background and try to make policy so that I could help make Dr. King’s dream and my dream come true,” Dyke said.
Armed with a bachelor’s and law degree from Howard University, Dyke entered the workforce, forging many significant relationships that would aid in his career trajectory. He worked alongside many significant players in federal and state level politics, including: federal judge Spottswood Robinson III, Vice President Walter Mondale, Democratic chairman Robert Strauss and Virginia governor Douglas Wilder.
During Dyke’s time as the Virginia secretary of education he aimed to achieve many significant goals in the administration’s four years in office.
Foremost, Dyke emphasized the importance of equal access to education for all children. This was accomplished by championing initiatives like expanding programming for at-risk children, supporting historically Black colleges and institutions and creating agreements, which guarantee community college transfer students the ability to transfer their credits to a four-year institution.
“I’m fully vested in making sure that our educational system continues to be of high quality and accessible to everyone regardless of race, gender, physical ability, country of origin, language, religion or orientation,” Dyke said. “You need to have a quality education to be fully productive in this global economy in which we find ourselves.”
Dyke continues to fight for education access through his work with McGuireWoods Consulting and hopes to see a future where both students and educators have the proper government funding, recognition for their work and equal access.
“I’m hopefully giving students the understanding that they can be anything they want to be if they put their minds to it, and we’re going to encourage them,” Dyke said. “That’s worth it, I tell you. That’s the beauty of teaching.”
